Top court in Nebraska approves plan to route Keystone XL pipeline through state

The Supreme Court of the state of Nebraska has overturned an earlier ruling that had until now held up construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

Early Friday, the state’s highest court reversed a lower court’s 2012 ruling that had
previously determined that Gov. Dave Heineman's decision to
approve a path for the pipeline had violated Nebraska’s
constitution.

Now with the high court’s blessing, construction of the pipeline
may soon proceed through Nebraska, pending how lawmakers in
Washington, DC handle the project on a national level.

Last February, Lancaster County Judge Stephanie Stacy struck down
Gov. Heineman’s approval of the pipeline route, saying that
jurisdiction over such a decision belongs to the pertinent state
regulator, the Nebraska Public Service Commission, or PSC.
Heineman filed an appeal, however, and the state’s Supreme Court
said Friday that the governor had, in fact, acted within his
authority.

The state’s top justices voted 7-4 on Friday to strike down the
earlier ruling, according to The Hill.

"This appeal is not about the wisdom or necessity of
constructing an oil pipeline but instead is limited to the issues
of great public concern raised here: which entity has
constitutional authority to determine a pipeline carrier’s route
and whether L.B. 1161 comports with the Nebraska Constitution’s
provisions controlling this issue,” the high court
concluded, referring to the bill passed by the state legislature
in 2012 that had allowed “major oil pipeline” carriers to bypass
the regulatory procedures of PSC.

Lawmakers in the House
of Representatives are slated to give their approval to the
project on Friday, paving the way for the Senate to consider
legislation as early as next week. A Republican majority in both
chambers means a GOP-centric Congress will likely authorize the
pipeline project, but the White House warned recently that US
President Barack Obama would veto a decision if it runs counter
to the State Department’s findings on the proposed pipeline. Sec.
of State John Kerry is expected to announce his office's findings
in the next few months.

Republicans have attested that green-lighting a pipeline route
out of Canada and through the US to the Gulf of Mexico would
create upwards of thousands of new jobs. Environmentalists have
largely rejected the project, however, and the president said
last month that he disagrees with the GOP with regards to the
rumored impact congressional approval would have on the economy.

“At issue in Keystone is not American oil. It is Canadian oil
that is drawn out of the tar sands in Canada,” said the
president.

“That oil currently is being shipped out through rail or
trucks, and it would save Canadian oil companies and the Canadian
oil industry an enormous amount of money if they can simply pipe
it all the way through the United States down to the Gulf,”
Obama added, calling the pipeline "not even a nominal benefit
for US consumers."